Where Does Water Go?

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday February 2, 2008

WHERE does the water go when it runs down cracks in the forest floor?

Does it wind up in the supply, or is it lost?

What are the risks to groundwater and aquifers from subsidence? And is it possible to patch up the holes?

These are some of the major questions Sydney Catchment Authority wants answered.

In July the authority told the Inquiry into the NSW Southern Coalfields that the impact of mining-induced subsidence on water resources and related ecosystems, and its infrastructure, was "problematic".

It said some of the impacts of subsidence were visible and could be serious, such as riverbed cracking.

A moratorium on mining in catchment areas was not proposed by the authority.

However, it pushed for water supply to be considered when longwall mining applications are assessed.

The authority noted that longwalls were the most profitable method of underground mining.

But it stressed that the impacts of mining and long-term economic costs should be taken into account.

In the past decade new concerns about mining had emerged, mainly due to worsening subsidence from wider longwalls. The authority estimated that within the next 20 years, 91 per cent of its special catchment areas would have been undermined.

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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